Ebere Nwoji
To ensure effective implementation of its 22 year old National Health Insurance scheme (NHIS), the federal government would spend a whooping N1.4 trillion for the health insurance premium of about 83 million Nigerians who fall within the vulnerable group citizens of the country.
The Director General /Chief Executive Officer, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), formerly National Health Insurance Scheme, Professor Nasir Mohammed Sambo, who stated this at the SEMPER FIDELIS Award organised for him by the Health Care Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN) in Lagos said out of the above figure, federal government’s annual budgetary provisions for health care needs of Nigerians accounts for only 9.6 percent of the figure.
He said the vulnerable citizens constitute about 40 per cent of the Nigerian population whom federal government needs to pay for their health insurance bills to deep penetration of the National health insurance scheme.
This by interpretation means that the remaining 60 per cent of the population outside the vulnerable group has no provision for their health care needs annually.
Sambo said the new National Health Insurance Authority instituted by government in May 2022 to replace the hitherto National Health Insurance Scheme through the change of some clauses in section 16 of the National Health Insurance Act, is working assiduously to achieve the Universal Health Insurance initiative of the United Nations even before the year 2030 target.
He said the problem of effective implementation of the scheme over the years has been the regulation, which failed to make it compulsory for the states to be part of the scheme.
He said with the successful change in the regulation, which has made it all-inclusive scheme its effective implementation nationwide is sure.
He said the National health insurance scheme if fully implemented would help Nigeria to key in and achieve the United Nations Universal health initiative by the year 2030.
“We want to achieve universal health initiative of the UN before the deadline in 2030 by this singular act by the President the law has made it clear , we are promoter, regulator, integrator what we are after now is how to operationally use the law so that all issues that have to do with population will now come in our operational guidelines and what are the necessary structure to ensure that regulation is done . On top of it, we have worked assiduously under our Digital Transformation framework whereby everything can be IT driven. These are structures that have been put in place so that by the time the guideline is very clear in line with the stipulation of the law, we are certain that we will have a very robust mechanism to control effective regulation, ”he stated.
According to Sambo, government is ready to pay for about 83 million Nigerians that are vulnerable but that for those who can afford to pay for themselves, that is those that are workers and are self employed, will pay for themselves to ensure that the National health insurance scheme is all inclusive.
In his remarks HCPAN President, Dr Jimmy Arigbabuwo said the SEMPER FIDELIS Award by the HCPAN was in recognition of Sambo’s immense contributions in repositioning the critical stakeholders in Health Insurance Scheme and issues in Nigeria.
He said HCPAN perceived Sambo’s consistency and transparency with transformational agenda so far as worthy of emulation.
According to him, the recent achievement of Universal health coverage modalities with signage of mandatory health insurance bill into law on May 19th, 2022, by the NHIAACCT 17, remains a living testimony of changing the narratives and gain play in Nigerian health insurance project.
He said Sambo had worked tirelessly with the National Assembly and health care providers Association of Nigeria to see the evolution of the bill into law through serious advocacies, conferences, summits and study tours as well as intra and inter ministerial meetings and workshops.
